Children of affectively ill and well parents were followed from early to late childhood. Deficiencies in attention were assessed at each time period. Previous research has found that young children of unipolar depressed mothers focused on more objects for shorter durations than children of well mothers. In addition, the process by which children of depressed mothers acquire patterns of attention through interactions with their mothers was explored. One aim of this study is to extend the previous findings by exploring attentional problems in middle childhood to determine if these problems are related the maternal risk status. A second aim is to assess the developmental trajectory for deficiencies in attention within this 'at risk' population. In addition, children of bipolar mothers will be included. Given the overlap between symptoms of ADHD and hypomania, attentional patterns of bipolar offspring may be a critical avenue to examine with the aim of identifying precursors to bipolar illness.